Ride vehicles have been a common form of entertainment for decades in amusement parks and attractions all across the country. These ride vehicles take many forms, including the forms of cars, trucks, boats, trains, spaceships, tour busses, safari vehicles, roller coaster vehicles, etc. Often, the ride vehicles may be designed to enhance a particular theme and be accompanied with intricately-designed sets that surround a path that the ride vehicles follow. In some theme parks, such as Disneyland Park,.TM. in California, and the Magic Kingdom Walt Disney World Park,.TM. in Florida, the passengers may experience a fairy tale, action adventure or other story as the ride vehicle travels through the attraction, for example, as found in the famous Pirates of the Caribbean.TM. attraction, of those theme parks.
A typical form of ride vehicle comprises a passenger seating area for one or more passengers, wherein the ride vehicle generally follows a fixed path, usually in the form of a track, rail system or the like. In some cases, the passenger is allowed to take a minor role in directing the lateral travel of the vehicle by steering it within a defined range along the fixed path, and by controlling its rate of speed. In other cases, a vehicle operator directs the vehicle, as typically found in safari parks and in tours of film studios. In other cases, the passenger assumes a passive role while the ride vehicle strictly follows the fixed path at a predetermined, or sometimes variable, rate of speed.
Frequently, ride vehicles in amusement attractions are permitted to move freely under the influence of gravity, their spacings regulated by the use of track-mounted hydraulic actuators that brake or restrain vehicle motion. For example, many roller coasters and log flume rides typically elevate each ride vehicle, which is thereafter motivated along the associated path by the force of gravity. The control systems of these rides may use path-mounted sensors, or alternatively, human operators positioned along the path, to control hydraulic brake mechanisms to maintain vehicle spacing.
In other vehicles, individual electric motors or other propulsion are used to drive the ride vehicles, with braking applied external to the vehicle. For example, some attractions use a plurality of platen drives, having a wheel or other path-mounted drive element that contacts a platen of each ride vehicle, to drive the ride vehicles at all locations along the path. In these systems, control systems which are external to the vehicle directly control vehicle speed, and there are typically no speed devices aboard any of the vehicles.
Still in other vehicles, propulsion is electronically actuated, frequently without the necessity of having an operator stationed in each vehicle. In these ride vehicles, electric power is supplied through a power bus, mounted adjacent to the path, which the ride vehicle taps and uses to operate its motor. A central controller is used to monitor the proximity of vehicles and shut-off power to a particular zone, or section of the path, having a ride vehicle that is closely spaced to a predecessor, or during an emergency condition.
Ride vehicles of the types described above have proven to be quite successful and provide a wide range of different experiences. However, they are not without certain recognized limitations, a principle limitation being the safety of the passengers. For example, a passenger's sensation of vehicle motion is generally dictated by the velocity of the vehicle and the shape or contour of the path followed. Thus, in order to give the passenger the sensation that the vehicle is accelerating rapidly or turning a sharp corner very fast, the vehicle must itself actually accelerate rapidly or turn a sharp corner very fast. Such rapid accelerations and sharp turns at fast speeds, however, may expose the passengers to undesirable safety risks. Additionally, control systems used to regulate a plurality of such ride vehicles often require manual operation, or generally operate control elements external to the ride vehicles to arrest motion.
Another well known limitation of ride vehicles of the type described above is that they generally follow a singular, predetermined path throughout the attraction. As a result, the passenger is left with little or no versatility in the ride experience. Moreover, since the vehicle follows only one path throughout the attraction, the passenger is exposed to the same ride experience each time. Generally, this leaves the passenger with less incentive to ride the attraction more than once, since the ride experience will be the same each time. The time and expense associated with changing the ride experience, either by altering the vehicle path or replacing the ride scenery, usually are prohibitive.
In recent years, simulators have been used to simulate vehicle motion, and are typically operated entirely within a room or other enclosed area. These motion simulators generally comprise a passenger seating area that is articulated by a platform-mounted, hydraulically-actuated motion base. The platform is fixed and does not move; rather, motion is imparted to the passenger seating area by multiple actuators, which form a part of the motion base. In use, passengers seated in the passenger seating area are typically shown a motion picture film that corresponds to a pre-determined pattern of vehicle travel. This motion picture film presents images in the same manner that one seated within an actual moving vehicle would see those images, and induces the passengers within the room to believe that they too are in the moving vehicle. To create this effect, the motion base articulates the passenger seating area in appropriate directions to actually impart gravity and other forces to the passengers, in exact synchronization with particular visual images projected from the film. For example, when the sensation of acceleration is required, the passenger seating area is slowly pitched backward, practically undetectably, and then just as the motion picture film imparts the impression of acceleration, rapidly pitched forward (through rotational acceleration) to a level position. When the sensation of turning a corner is required, the passenger seating area is undetectably rolled to one side and then back to a level position during the course of the simulated turn, in cooperation with the film's depiction of an actual "turn." Other vehicle motion sensations can be simulated using appropriately projected visual images and synchronized articulated motion of the passenger seating area. Thus, passengers can be made to experience motion as if they were in a moving vehicle without ever leaving the room, and without the need of a single control system that collectively governs a plurality of simulators. One well-known simulator that has been used successfully for years is the so-called "Star Tours".TM. attraction at Disneyland Park.TM. in Anaheim, Calif.
The precision of the articulation and timing in a simulator ride is acute, and often requires the use of a computer to control the movements of hydraulic actuators within the motion base. Typically, a number of electronically-controlled, piston-type actuators of the motion base support the passenger seating area with respect to the platform. When supplied with a variable amount of voltage, each of these actuators is hydraulically stroked in a repeatable, controlled amount that varies in dependance upon the amount of voltage. Using a plurality of actuators, therefore, the passenger seating area can be articulated to supply the motions of vertical lift, side-to-side movement, front-to-back movement, roll, tilt and yaw and any combination of these motions.
To synchronize the presentation of the projected images with articulation of the passenger seating area, the computer is programmed with a sequence of data, each event in the sequence defining a particular attitude of the passenger seating area with respect to the platform. Furthermore, this sequence of events is indexed to the start of the film (motion picture film is driven at a constant rate of 24 frames per second), such that articulation of the passenger seating area is properly synchronized with the sense of motion in the projected images. Accordingly, to generate a particular, preconceived ride experience, the film must first be created, after which programmers experiment with articulation of the motion base to derive and index ideal motions to a particular time or frame of the motion picture film.
While simulators of the type described above have come a long way to provide more dynamic and enhanced sensations of simulated vehicle movement, such simulators are not true vehicles and still do not actually move the passenger through an attraction. Instead, the simulator remains in a fixed position while the passenger seating area tilts in various directions corresponding to the simulated path of travel shown by the film. Therefore, the passenger does not actually travel through live scenery and props, which might otherwise pass by the passenger if the vehicle were to physically travel through a live attraction. Motion picture film, no matter how realistic, present a two-dimensional image that does not accurately recreate the impression that an actual three-dimensional object produces. Thus, the more conventional ride vehicles present the relative advantage that they do move and do encounter actual objects, sets, animals, and environments, that impart a vivid, three-dimensional impression upon the passengers. Furthermore, simulators also are limited in the sense that the passenger must usually look forward toward the screen upon which the motion picture film is shown, in order to obtain and maximize the ride experience. Thus, the simulator effect seeming presence in a moving vehicle is limited by the fact that passengers cannot look sideways, or behind the vehicle.
In addition, unless the motion picture film used in a simulator attraction is occasionally changed, and the motion pattern of the simulator reprogrammed to produce movement corresponding to a new motion picture film, which, as explained above, is an expensive and labor intensive undertaking, then the passengers will be exposed to the same ride experience each time they visit the attraction. Therefore, like the conventional ride vehicles described above, there is generally less incentive for the passenger to repeatedly ride a simulator-ride, as the ride experience will be the same each time.
Accordingly, there has existed a need for a ride vehicle that enhances the sensation of the vehicle's motion and travel experienced by passengers as the ride vehicle itself physically moves through an actual, three-dimensional attraction. For such an attraction, there also exists a corresponding need to utilize a plurality of such ride vehicles at any one particular time, and a method of ensuring that they may be safely operated and controlled. Finally, there exists a need to have a simulator-type attraction which may be readily implemented in a multitude of environments, and which therefore can readily and inexpensively provide a multitude of ride experiences and utilize the same type of control to achieve these ride experiences in each of these environments. The current invention solves these needs and provides further, related advantages.